Barcelona lovin

I love words. And people. And good atmospheres. And travels, festivals, loud music and laughter. Going for a swim in salt water which leaves a layer of salt on your body when it dries. Laying in the sun and being warm into your very soul. Closing your eyes to enjoy just being alive. The feeling on freedom and excitement you get when the plane is taking off. The smell of a different country when you get out of the airport.

☼

I've been lucky enough to travel to Barcelona this summer, which was one of the best trips my friends and I've ever had. Even though we were only three people traveling together, and stayed at a rather disappointing hostel, it was still a trip I hope to remember for a long, long time. I never knew a city could exist of so many places boiling with people, long haired Spanish beauties and loud people screaming at you to try to sell you things at the beach. Laying there on the not-so-quietly-beach, the sand always found it's way onto the towel, and the sun snook upon us and slowly changed our Nordic skin from a fairly white color to a more tan/reddish (sunburned for some) color. It was still wonderful and I love the sound of the ocean making it's way back and forth, kissing the shore. 

Our second day on the beach we signed us up with a company called I survived Barcelona (it sounds worse than it turned out to be, I guess) and they arranged Bar Crawls every night. As always I was a little skeptical, just because some friends of mine did something similar while we were in Rhodes last summer, and it turned out to be pretty boring and not at all what they'd expected. But the same night, we did the bar crawl, and to be honest it turned out to be lots of fun. I love meeting people from different countries, it gives you so much more perspective than when you just stay inside your little bubble of well known words and personalities. We did the bar crawl two nights after that as well, but how fun it was all depended on what kind of people you hit it off with.

My two lovely friends, Anna-Maja and Siri

Happy, blurry people.

During the days we spent either on the beach or exploring the city. At least for me, I felt as if we needed to be real tourists and were very excited when we decided to take a city tour bus around the town to see all the beautiful architecture.

This is what I learned from that bus ride:

- ALWAYS bring a hat, even if you think it looks stupid. You'll end up buying one anyway, when you're near getting a heat stroke.

- Take it easy, don't over do yourself, and don't walk up hills like you're trying to win a marathon. 

- Bring LOTS of water, at least one big bottle and money to buy more water later.

- The beach is a much better idea on a burning hot day in the start of July, rather than s bus ride on pavement that feels like lava.   

It was only when we got home that we found out that it'd been 38ºC, and we were all so tired from the heat and impressions, that we crashed in bed. As you may have figured out, we didn't really get to see much because of the heat, but if you're going on a cooler day, I would absolutely recommend it. It's such a beautiful city, even sitting on a bus just observing.

This is Siri and I practically dying outside Sagrada Familia after buying matching hats and water (also the most embarrassing tourist pic I've ever seen).

I'm laughing so hard at this picture.

This was pretty much how our days went by, relaxing and being in our own vacation mode. We ate at the hostel almost every night to save money, and even though I love food and it being well made, it turned out ok. On our last day we went to see Casa Batllo, one of Gaduis famous works. It was incredible. I've never seen anything like it, and the way he was thinking about the atmosphere (especially light) while creating the house really inspired me.

Both pictures above were taken from the roof of Casa Batillo.

The hostel rom. As you can see we had one extra bed, and we used all our space on the floor as a place to put water bottles. Well, well. Messy. What else can you expect. 

Anna- Maja in the kitchen, having breakfast. 

The next trip I'll be taking is to Paris next week, and I will definitely be writing about that!

Talk soon!